Burnt stuff

S

Sharon Bowman

Sharon Bowman
Lately, two very different white wines from the Burgundy region of France have retained my attention for a "burnt" note on the palate.

In truth, I do not know to what to attribute this taste, which is of, well, burnt stuff. Not the smoky taste I got in a Littorai ros that had been caught in the midst of a forest fire and vinified not-red so as to save what could be saved (i.e. eliminating the skins, finally). No; a roasted, burnt taste.

2005 Valette Pouilly-Fuiss "Les Chevrires" - normally, this is a domain I adore. Recent letdowns with a flawed Vir-Cless notwithstanding, I have continued admirative. (A very recent 2005 Mcon-Villages VV was astounding; gorgeous, long and pure, mm.) But this, tasted at Lavinia last week, was, well, burnt. Chardonnay nose, with burnt. Palate with burnt, chardonnay behind. What gives?

2005 De Villaine Bouzeron - ooh, burnt 2005s. Ooh, burnt aligot. Actually, this wine was completely, confoundingly Burgundian (cf. recent comments by Eric Asimov on De Moor St. Bris being more Burgundian than varietal sauvignon blanc) but behind the attack of leesy white Burgundy (and, peeps, this is aligot! With a bit of age, granted), a burnt note. Toasted and burnt stuff.

Any enlightenment or just simple banter is, of course, welcome.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
(cf. recent comments by Eric Asimov on De Moor St. Bris being more Burgundian than varietal sauvignon blanc)
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The saint bris i tasted last night was not tasting like sauvignon or burgundy,it simply tasted like natural winemaking... De moor wines are to be aged, for the first few years, they taste nothing like they're supposed to be. 04 bel air et clardy starts showing well, 05 aligote as well, 04 st bris... everything else is not right yet.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
Heat damage is more a candied taste, not a burnt one, for me.
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Yeah, I know the candied element. But sometimes there is a bitter burnt clipped note that I also associate with heat damage.

But, sounds like you don't think that was at fault here.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
Burnt stuffLately, two very different white wines from the Burgundy region of France have retained my attention for a "burnt" note on the palate.
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Torrefactive notes are always a tough target to pinpoint, but burnt matchsticks are a classic sign of heavy sulfite use. Is that remotely possible? Or was it more like burnt wood or paper?

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:

2005 Valette Pouilly-Fuiss "Les Chevrires"
Any enlightenment or just simple banter is, of course, welcome.
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You wildly overrate the current wines of Valette.
 
Just had the 05 Mcon-Chantr VV the other day. It was astoundingly good. Very pure.

I've never liked any of Valette's Pouilly-Fuisss, though, I must say.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
Heavily toasted oak barrels?
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In the aligote?
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I just looked at De Villaine's web site, but they are unfortunately not forthcoming as to the barrel treatment of the Bouzeron.

It did taste rather that way, though.

This is fancy-pants aligot, after all.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
Heavily toasted oak barrels?
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In the aligote?
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Not only not heavily toasted oak barrels, and no new oak barrels, much/most of de Villaine's Bouzeron is raised in giant, old oak foudres, the rest in vats. (Hope that isn't considered insatiable name dropping.) There's a good article on Domaine A & P de Villaine, including a picture of the foudres and tasting notes from cask of the 2005 Bouzeron here: http://www.wineterroirs.com/2006/03/de_villaine.html .

I don't understand being surprised by Bouzeron or Saint-Bris being Burgundian. They are from Burgundy, so by definition they are Burgundian.

I suspect that what Sharon is calling burnt is a result of the malo-lactic fermentation.
 
Great photos (as usual for that blog).

I especially like the part where he says the La Fortune costs 8 euro. KLWM sells this for what, $30 now?
 
originally posted by slaton:
Great photos (as usual for that blog).

I especially like the part where he says the La Fortune costs 8 euro. KLWM sells this for what, $30 now?
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The wine in France has gone up quite a bit in subsequent vintages in France, too. There is now great domestic demand and the estate sells out very quickly. Given the weakness of the dollar, I'm not sure Kermit is making an "extra" margin on the de Villaine wines: as a rule of thumb, count on shelf price being double the cellar door price. 8 euros x 1.425 $/euro = $11.40 x 2 = $22.80, and add some for increase in price at the cellar door over the past few vintages and you don't have much difficulty reaching $27.50, which I think is the price in CA for the 2007 La Fortune.
 
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